Let’s talk tyres

[Grey wolf oz]

Guys n gals !

I had been running Metzler 888 tyres on the valk,,,,


The last cycle I was unable to get these and ended up with Bridgestone exedra,


I have to say it like the difference in handling,


MC tyres are a bit,  cyclic in supply down under so,,  I was wondering if there are onions on what is good to run on a interstate, albeit one mildly supervalked


( who am I kidding asking for opinions )

Cheers guys


Luke

[hubcapsc]

Metzeler 888 and Cobra Chrome are two I've run. I have a Shinko
that's not yet mounted, looks fine, people say they're good...

-Mike

[DragonRdr]

I put Avon Cobra Chromes on my Interstate and they're great tires. I have Dunlops on the Goldwing. Not sure if you can get them down under, but if you can you might try them. 

[h13man]

Trying to wear out my front Cobra AV77 that I got a good deal on before they were discontinued. I'm going to be running my second set of 701F/702R Bridgestones with nothing but excellence. The Exedra Max, can't say on the Valk but on the 1600 Vulcan they ran fine in the summer but cooler weather can't say as that "pig" didn't stay around long. A VT1100 twin pin motor models has the same PTWR as the Vulcan @ 150 lbs. less and virtually the same ergo as my Spirit. Live and learn. Comfy solo ride but...

[Grey wolf oz]

Thanks for the input,

Shinko had a bad wrap over here, though I did run a set of shinko whitewalls on the Roadstar way back,

Anyone actually ran them on the Valkyrie ?

[DragonKen]

I'm interested in putting the Shinko tires too.  Not sure which is better for the interstate, the 777's or the SE 890 Journey.  The pricing is much easier to manage than the Avon Cobra Chrome.  Would love to hear from anyone that has put either Shinko on their Valk and has some opinions to offer.

[hubcapsc]

I believe it is the 890... numerous people, some of who I'm sure
ride hard and fast some of the time, have used them on their
Valkyries and said they liked them... hopefully one of them will
see this thread...

-Mike

[f-Stop]

I had Shinko tires on my Shadow for a bit.  Inexpensive and I liked them at first.  But...they ended up being very low mileage.  Had to replace 'em at less than 5,000 miles.  The rear was totally bald by then.  (Bear in mind, my Shadow VT1100 Spirit gives up 200lbs to the Valkyrie.)

The Valk currently has an Avon Cobra Chrome on the front and a Dunlop Elite IV on the rear.  I've run Dunlops on the Valk for 15 years now and have had really good luck with 'em.  The reason for the Cobra on the front is that I could not get a Dunlop front tire during all the covid shut down craziness.  (There were plenty of posts on this site where folks were looking for front tires -- of any brand -- for their Valkyries during that time.).

Anyway, I'm happy with the rival brands of tires on the Valk.  They're both radials and work well for my old guy/big cruiser riding style.

(FYI, the Shadow currently has a Cobra on the front and a Michelin on the rear.  Once again rival brands, but work well together...)

[The emperor has no clothes]

I'm interested in putting the Shinko tires too.  Not sure which is better for the interstate, the 777's or the SE 890 Journey.  The pricing is much easier to manage than the Avon Cobra Chrome.  Would love to hear from anyone that has put either Shinko on their Valk and has some opinions to offer.

There are opinions for and against them. Mine is against. I won’t ever run them again after a vibration that developed.

[Peteg]

I have Shinko's on my bike. They're what came on the bike so I can't compare to any other tire. To me they seem very good. I'd compare them favorably with Michelin Commander 2's - I run them on my VTX1300.

I don't push the bike, but IMO it handles really well and I fully trust the tires.

The strange thing is I have a radial on the rear and a bias ply on the front. I actually read some old threads that said people were doing this with the Shinko's and my Triumph street twin came delivered that way new, so I didn't freak out when I bought the bike since it ran fine.

Rear tire - Shinko 890 Journey, run at 40 psi, used tire, looked new at purchase. I put 6,400 miles on the tire.

Front tire - Shinko Tour master, run at 38 psi, new at purchase, has 6,400 miles.

Based on the current look of the tread, and current good handling I expect to replace both tires next winter with something over 12,000 miles; I expect reasonably good tread and for mileage tire profiles. If I have any concerns before next Winter, they'll get replaced. If I remain happy with them until next winter, I will seriously consider going back with the same setup.

[hubcapsc]

There's people on here with truck tires on the back and
motorcycle rear tires mounted backwards on the front. It
can't matter if you mix radial and bias  ...

-Mike

[F6Dave]

I've ridden nearly 400,000 miles on my 2 Valks and 2 F6Bs, and most of those miles have been on Avons. I've had quality problems like the front wobbling in turns, but that was tolerable enough to ignore. Then last summer a front made a popping sound and developed a massive bulge, luckily just 2 miles from home. I've switched to Bridgestones, which also cost much less.

[PSUbag]

I'm interested in putting the Shinko tires too.  Not sure which is better for the interstate, the 777's or the SE 890 Journey.  The pricing is much easier to manage than the Avon Cobra Chrome.  Would love to hear from anyone that has put either Shinko on their Valk and has some opinions to offer.

I put Shinko's on because of the price. Tread is very similar to the Avon's and handles just as well, imo. I never get more than 7 or 8 thousand out of a rear and I got 10+ on the Shinko. BUT, the rear tire developed a shake/vibration that I put up with longer than I probably should of. I bought another rear Shinko this summer, (the front still looks good) so we'll see what happens.

[rug_burn]

I've had Avons several sets, Brudgstones and various Dunlops on my '97 Tourer.   All were good- I didn't get that many miles on the Dunlops, but always 10k to 12k on the other rear tires, and almost 20k on the fronts,  but always with slight to moderate wobbles if riding hands off around 45mph, like when putting on my gloves (like I should have done before I started.)   
  But now I got a set of Metzler 888s front and rear, and they don't wobble at all.  I didn't notice it at first, I mean who misses a wobble, but to me it's the good old German habit of getting all the details right.    They must have gotten the molds perfect.   I thought it was lack of damping and too small front wheel bearings, but these Metzlers don't do it at all.
    I got no complaints.

[Jess from VA]

I've always loved Metzlers best.  (and on my bikes before Valks too)

Run car tires in back for a long time now, but Metz up front.  My few experiments with different front tires were not satisfactory.  The offsize (140) Michelin radials up front I tried were pretty good, but not as good as the Metz.  So I'm done expiramenting.  



Finest rear I ever had.  Michelin Crossclimate 2   205 60

[Heathen]

Had always run Metzelers before, but couldn't get them this last tire change, so Now I've got Bridgestones.  Exedra max for one and a numbered Bridgestone for the other, since they didn't have an exedra in the right size. 

They grip very well in the dry.  very well.  IN the wet cold, I've felt the read slip a bit, but it's a controlled slip, if you know what I mean, it's not fishtailing all around, just a bit more lateral movement per rotation than it should be.  That's easy enough to deal with while cornering, so they've been good to me so far.  I'm only 2K miles into them so I don't know about longevity yet.

While I like em, I'll probably go back to the ME888 next time, just because I've got so many miles on them and they've been reliable.   (ran a car tire in the rear on my previous valk, but didn't like the way it cornered, but I hit the corners pretty hard for a cruiser)